On almost any autumn or spring school day -- and even during a mild winter -- the Bachman boys have an easy morning walk to their bus stop on Osborne Road in Colonie.

Their family lives in the third house from the corner, and they can scoot along the edges of two neighboring lawns to reach the intersection with Anthony Lane, where they join a friend in waiting for the bus that takes them to Shaker Road Elementary School.

But this winter, as you surely already know, things are different.

The segment of Osborne where the Bachman family lives has no sidewalks. And with the snow piling up from storm after storm, the grassy ground of the neighboring lawns is deep beneath steep, crusty snowbanks that hug the edges of the street.

Brothers R.J., 9, and Logan, 5, have to walk on the pavement of the busy road during the height of the morning commuter rush, and that is a major worry for their parents, Steven and Rhonda Bachman.

Rhonda started thinking ahead about that possibility back in November, a couple of months after Logan started kindergarten, and raised the issue with the South Colonie school district's transportation supervisor. They spoke by telephone sometime around the Christmas break, she recalls.

She suggested that, just while the snow was forcing the boys to walk in the road, the bus also make a stop at the Bachman driveway. When the snowbanks recede, they can go back to their old routine.

"He was really nice, but he said 'We already stop at Osborne and Anthony and we can't stop at the driveway,' " and he added that the extra stop would be frowned upon by Colonie Police, Rhonda recalled.

She decided to let the matter drop and cross her fingers that the winter would be a low-snow one, as recent ones had been.

"Then, all this snow started coming, and I said 'This is crazy. They should not be walking in the road,' " Rhonda told me this week.

She worries that a driver changing the radio or sliding on the snow could veer dangerously.

Here, a disclosure: Unlike most people whose stories are told in the Advocate, I knew Rhonda Bachman before we started talking about this.

Rhonda works upstairs from me on the Times Union's advertising staff, and we've been known to exchange friendly hellos in the hall. Usually, that would discourage me from taking up her cause to avoid any appearance of favoritism.

But in this instance, Rhonda's inquiry clearly rose to a level of timely, legitimate concern on its merits, and I decided readers would see this as a matter of public interest, given the issues of child and motorist safety involved.

Rhonda contacted me on Monday when, after more outreach to school officials last week, she still wasn't confident that a resolution was in sight, and her kids were still walking on the edge of Osborne Road to reach the bus stop.

Superintendent Jonathan Buhner agreed that the children should not be walking in the road, she said, but school officials had remained adamant that one extra stop of the bus at the Bachman driveway was not a permissible solution.

School officials did tell her they would ask the town of Colonie to push the snowbanks back farther. But, as photos from the Bachmans' digital camera show, it's still not possible to step up on the curb and there's little or no shoulder available.

On Tuesday, Rhonda and Steven accompanied R.J. and Logan on their walk to the bus stop, and Times Union photographer Skip Dickstein took the photo that appears with this column. You can see for yourself how difficult it is to stay safely away from traffic.

When I spoke with Superintendent Buhner on Tuesday, he said he'd discuss the issue again with Transportation Supervisor Peter Tunny. Buhner didn't rule out adding another stop, but said the district wanted to explore other potential resolutions first, such as having the snowbanks pushed back farther.

"Everyone would like door-to-door service, but it's hard to do," he said.

I've been unable to speak directly with Tunny. I remain puzzled why one temporary extra stop on a busy road with no sidewalks is such a huge problem and would like to hear more from Tunny on the issue.

At least one of the explanations repeatedly given to the Bachmans --- that Colonie police would not allow it -- didn't check out when I asked.

"We have nothing to do with the bus stops. It doesn't matter to us where the bus stops are," said longtime traffic Lt. Ken Pero. If police felt a stop was unsafe, they might advise the district of their concerns, but he said the department has no authority to direct the district regarding bus stop locations.

I understand that the district might not want to set a precedent of stopping at student driveways, out of concern that all parents would request that. But I'm quite certain that school officials could make a clear case about why this pickup is different.

Here it is: It's rare for such young students to live on such a busy street with no sidewalks between their house and the bus stop.

Kathy and Adam Furgang, who live on Anthony Lane and whose son, Ben, waits at the same stop with the Bachmans, noted that their street, also without sidewalks, is a residential side street with light traffic.

Ben also can walk through the snow on a neighboring yard when he comes home from the stop, his mother said.

"We don't have to walk on a busy road," said Kathy Furgang. "Osborne is very different from Anthony Lane."

"I would not even walk on Osborne as a grown man," said Adam Furgang. "I think that allowances should be made until the snow melts."

I believe a resolution is close at hand. Surely South Colonie school officials must realize it needs to be addressed immediately, given the new delivery of ice and snow we received this week.

Rhonda Bachman told me she received a call from Tunny late Tuesday afternoon, and he was exploring a new potential solution.

Tunny remained adamant that another morning stop would mess up the bus schedule (the boys do not take the afternoon bus home), she said, but he noted that a different bus that delivers children to a day care program travels past the house.

He planned to speak with the driver of that bus today (Thursday) to see if she could make the Bachman stop.